Is Recession Preparing a New Breed of Survivalist? [Survival Today

Conclusion

To summarize: the world is currently undergoing an economic shock every bit as big as the Great Depression shock of 1929-30. Looking just at the US leads one to overlook how alarming the current situation is even in comparison with 1929-30.

The good news, of course, is that the policy response is very different. The question now is whether that policy response will work. For the answer, stay tuned for our next column.<<<

Scary.

Good article, thanks for finding it.

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/recipes/cinnamonraisinoatmealbread

Cinnamon and yeast

Carltonb, a baking instructor who visits this site, sent me the following information and suggestion:

According to the AIB (American Institute of Baking) cinnamon can have
an affect on the yeast. In some of their literature that I have
cinnamon can degrade up to 20% of the yeast cells in a bread dough. It
is suggested that the cinnamon not be added until the last few minutes
of mixing.

Try to incorporate the last few minutes of mixing and see if there are
any differences in the dough.

Cinnamon Raisin Oatmeal Bread

cinnamon raisin oatmeal bread
I love cinnamon raisin breads. I make them often and find them to be the perfect breakfast treat, with just enough sweetness to not require jam, just enough fruit to constitute more than just carbs for breakfast.

I’ve baked many different raisin bread recipes. Some I find to be too sweet, others too heavy on the whole wheat (though white flour alone I don’t find that satisfying either). This recipe, from Jeffrey Hamelman’s Bread, is one of the best raisin breads I have found: I particularly enjoy how the oats on top of the loaf toast up nicely.

(Despite my initial misgivings about his attitude toward amateur bakers, I do have to say that all of the recipes from Hamelman’s book that I have baked have been exceptionally good. I find myself thumbing through it almost as often as The Bread Baker’s Apprentice these days.)

One interesting thing Hamelman mentions in a side note is that chemical compounds in bark-based spices such as cinnamon and nutmeg inhibit yeast activity, so more yeast than typical is required. This is a good thing to keep in mind when adapting a normal bread into a cinnamon raisin bread, something I do often.

And a warning: this recipe makes three substantial loaves. It pushed the capacity of the standmixer. You may want to consider halving the quantities.

Cinnamon Raisin Oatmeal Bread
Makes 3 loaves
24 oz (5 1/2 cups) bread or all-purpose unbleached flour
8 oz (1 7/8 cups) whole wheat flour
5.3 oz (1 5/8 cups) rolled oats
20 oz (2 1/2 cups) water
3.5 oz (3/8 cups) milk
2.4 oz (3 tablespoons) honey
2.4 oz (5 1/2 tablespoons) vegetable oil
.7 oz (1 tablespoons plus 1/2 teaspoon) salt
.37 oz (1 1/4 tablespoon) instant yeast
.5 oz (2 tablespoons) ground cinnamon
10.6 oz (2 cups) soaked and drained raisins

At least half an hour before you begin, soak the raisins in warm water.

soaking raisins
Doing so plumps them, which makes them softer and moister in the loaf and also prevents the ones on the surface of the loaf from burning. Just prior to adding the raisins to the loaf, you’ll pour the water out.

Next, soak the oats in the 2 1/2 cups water for 20 to 30 minutes.
soaking oats
If you are using active dry yeast instead of instant yeast, which I did, withhold 1/2 cup of the water to proof the yeast in.

Mix the flours, yeast, milk, honey, oil, salt, and cinnamon into the oats. Mix well, until all of the flour is hydrated. Knead by hand for 5 minutes or in a standmixer for 3, then mix in the drained raisins. Knead or mix until the raisins are distributed throughout the dough.
bowl of dough

Cover the bowl of dough and allow it to rise for 1 hour. Then remove the dough from the bowl and fold it, degassing it gently as you do. The images below illustrate this technique.

Place the dough on a floured work surface, top side down.
dough on board

Fold the dough in thirds, like a letter, gently degassing as you do.
fold 1

Fold in thirds again the other way.
fold 2

Flip the dough over, dust off as much of the raw flour as you can, and place it back into the bowl.
bowl of folded dough

Cover the bowl and allow the dough to rise in bulk again for another hour. Then divide the dough in thirds and shape the loaves.
shaping loaves

Place each shaped loaf into a greased bread pan.
shaping loaves
Spray or gently brush each loaf with water and sprinkle with some more oats.

Cover the pans and set aside to rise until the loaves crest above the edge of the pans, roughly 90 minutes.
risen loaves

Preheat the oven to 450. Place the loaves in the center rack of the oven. After 5 minutes, reduce the oven temperature to 375. Rotate the loaves 180 degrees after 20 minutes, and bake for another 15 to 25 minutes, until the tops of the loaves are nicely browned, the bottoms of the loaves make a hollow sound when tapped, and the internal temperature of the loaf registers above 185 degrees when measured with an instant read thermometer.

sliced loaves

Yeah, ok, you are supposed to let the loaves cool before slicing. I couldn’t though, and I have no regrets!

Related Recipes: Sweet Corn Raisin Bread, Maple Oatmeal Bread, Struan Bread.

Published on The Fresh Loaf (http://www.thefreshloaf.com)

Home > Potato Rosemary Rolls
Potato Rosemary Rolls
By Floydm
Created Nov 1 2005 - 9:57pm

potato rosemary rolls

Thanksgiving in the States is coming up soon. These rolls would make a wonderful accompaniment to the banquet table, though they are simple enough that they can go along with any night’s dinner. They make amazing hamburger buns too.

Potato Rosemary Rolls
Makes 18 small rolls or 12 hamburger sized buns
1 potato, cooked and mashed
1 lb (3 1/2 cups) bread or all-purpose unbleached flour
3/4 - 1 cup water
2 teaspoons instant yeast
2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon dried rosemary or 2 tablespoons fresh rosemary
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon ground sage leaves

Cook the potato until soft, either by boiling or baking in the oven or microwave. For this batch I chopped up and boiled the potato. I then reserved a cup of the potato water to add to the loaf, figuring it had additional nutrients and starches that would help my loaf.

Mash the potato. Removing the skin prior to mashing is optional: if you are using tough skinned potatoes like russets I would suggest removing them, but with soft skinned potatoes such as yukon gold or red potatoes I typically leave them on. The chopped up skin add nice color and texture to your rolls.

Combine the flour, mashed potato, yeast, salt, pepper and herbs in a large bowl. Add 3/4 cups water and knead or mix for 5 to 10 minutes, adding more water or flour until a consistency you are comfortable working with is reached. I added close to a full cup of water and ended up with an extremely sticky dough that was difficult to work with. I was only able to shape the rolls by repeatedly dipping my fingers in flour. The end result was wonderful though.

(I encourage amateur bakers to push the limit of what they think they can handle, moisture-wise. More often than not you’ll be pleasantly surprised with the results, though you can go too far and end up baking a pancake, which I’ve done more than once.)

potato rosemary rolls

Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a moist towel and let the dough rise until it has doubled in size, typically 60 to 90 minutes.

Remove the dough from the bowl, gently degas it, and shape it. For rolls or buns you can weigh them if you like or just eyeball them. I cut racquetball sized chunks of dough (larger than golf balls, smaller than tennis balls) then rolled them into balls in my well-floured hands. I placed them on a baking sheet covered with parchment, placed the entire sheet in a plastic trash bag, and set it aside to rise for approximately an hour again.

While the dough rose, I preheated the oven to 375 degrees.

If you have a spritzer, spray the top of the rolls with water right before placing them in the oven. Place them in the center rack and bake them for 10 minutes. Rotate the pan 180 degrees and bake them for another 10 to 20 minutes, depending on size. My large hamburger bun sized rolls took close to half an hour to bake. You’ll know they are done when the bottom of the rolls is solid and slightly crispy. If you have a probe thermometer, check the temperature inside one of the rolls. When the internal temperature is approaching 200 degrees F, they are ready to pull out of the oven.

potato rosemary rolls

Allow the rolls to cool before serving. They keep very well too, so you could bake them a day or two ahead of time and still serve them for Thanksgiving.

Related Recipe: Kaiser Rolls [1].

* Seasonal

HOME | FORUM | LESSONS | THE BREAD FEED | ACTIVITY TRACKER

All original site content copyright The Fresh Loaf unless stated otherwise.
Source URL: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/recipes/potatorosemaryrolls

Links:
[1] http://www.thefreshloaf.com/recipes/kaiserrolls

Rustic Bread
By Floydm
Created Jun 23 2005 - 1:30pm

I’ve made two batches of the Rustic Bread from Jeffrey Hamelman’s Bread: A Baker’s Book of Techniques and Recipes [1] and they have turned out excellent. Pretty, too: for once my loaves are decently shaped. I’m not sure it is has so much to do with the recipe or just that, after 4 months of constant baking, I’m starting to get pretty good at this.

I love the simplicity of this one: 2 lbs flour, 1 tablespoon salt, just over 1/2 teaspoon yeast, and enough water to hydrate it all. It still amazes me how the best bread is made with the fewest ingredients.

I want to do a lesson on shaping soon, as well as one on pre-ferments. So I’m not going to cover those steps in the level of detail I should here, but I’ll get enough of the recipe down that most people shouldn’t have trouble following it.

Rustic Bread

Makes 2 large loaves

Preferment:
1 lb. bread flour (3 1/2 cups)
9.5 oz. water (1 1/4 cups)
1/2 tablespoon salt
1/8 teaspoon instant yeast

Final dough:
10 oz. bread flour (2 1/2 cups)
6 oz. whole wheat or rye flour or a mixture of them (around 1 1/2 cups)
12.5 oz. water (1 1/2 cups)
1/2 tablespoon salt
1/2 teaspoon instant yeast
all of the preferment

Put the yeast in the water and stir. Mix the flour and salt together in a bowl and pour in the yeasted water. Mix until the flour is hydrated, adding more water if necessary. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave the pre-ferment out at room temperature overnight (up to 16 hours... if you need more time before baking put it in the refrigerator).

To make the final dough, combine all of the ingredients except the pre-ferment in a mixing bowl. Chop the pre-ferment up into small pieces and mix or knead it into the final dough until they are thoroughly combined. This is quite difficult to do by hand: Hamelman assumes the baker has a mixer and can mix it for 5 minutes by machine. I mix and knead my dough by hand for about 10 minutes. At the end of that time the new and old dough aren’t perfectly combined— you can still see a few streaks of the lighter colored pre-ferment in it— but they are sufficiently combined that loaves bake evenly.

Place the dough back in a greased bowl and ferment for 2 1/2 hours, punching down or folding the dough twice during that time.

(Folding the dough consists of taking the dough out of the bowl, spreading it out a little on a clean surface, folding it in thirds like a letter, rotating it 90 degrees and folding it up again, and then returning the dough to the bowl and covering it again. Like punching down, folding degases the dough some, but it also encourages gluten development. More on this topic in a future post.)

At the end of the fermentation, divide the dough into two pieces and preshape each into a ball. Cover with a clean towel and let each rest for 5 to 10 minutes before shaping into the final shape. Once shaped, cover the loaves with a clean towel and set aside for a final rise, approximately 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours.

Halfway though the final rise, begin preheating the oven to 450 degrees. If you are using a baking stone, preheat it as well.

Right before placing it in the oven, score the loaves. Place them in the oven and use whatever technique you use to create stream in the oven (squirt bottle, skillet full of hot water, etc) to encourage proper crust development.

After 20 minutes of baking, rotate the loaves 180 degrees so that they’ll bake evenly. Bake until an instant read thermometer reads around 200 degrees, which took approximately 35 minutes for my batard (”football”) shaped loaves.

Related Recipe: Italian Bread [2]
‹ another oven question [3] Problem with my starter, need help › [4]

* Artisan Baking

All original site content copyright The Fresh Loaf unless stated otherwise.
Source URL: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/recipes/rusticbread

Links:
[1] http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?link_code=ur2&camp=1789&tag=froglallabout-20&creative=9325&path=ASIN/0471168572/qid=1118632994/sr=2-2/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_2
[2] http://www.thefreshloaf.com/recipes/italianbread
[3] http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/10283/another-oven-question
[4] http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/10260/problem-my-starter-need-help

Struan Bread
By Floydm
Created Jun 13 2005 - 1:30pm

struan breadIn the 15 years since I first tried Brother Juniper’s Struan Bread, I’ve tasted a lot of great bread, but I still don’t think I’ve tried anything that makes as great toast as Struan Bread does. Nor have I tried any bread is so universally enjoyed: everyone who tries it agrees that this bread makes killer toast.

It isn’t bad for sandwiches either.

I have to admit though that this bread occasionally gives me nightmares. Click “Read More” to learn why.

The Nightmares

When I was in high school I worked in the Brother Juniper’s bakery and cafe. For the most part I worked on the slicing machine, but I also helped scale and shape the loaves. Oh yes, and top the loaves with poppy seeds.

The poppy seeds. The poppy seeds are what give me nightmares.

I have no idea how many pounds of poppy seeds we went through a day, but I know we made as many as 500 loaves of Struan Bread, each one covered with hundreds of poppy seeds. Those seeds would get everywhere: in your hair, under your fingernails, in your clothes, everywhere you can imagine. Even a few places you can’t imagine: I recall a number of times pulling poppy seeds out of strange places (like my book bag for school or a clean pair of pants) and wondering “How in the world did poppy seeds get in there?!?

I still avoid poppy seeds most of the time, though I’ll admit they are wonderful on top of this loaf.

About Struan Bread

Struan Bread (properly pronounced “STRU-en bread”, but most people I know call it “STRON bread”) is a harvest bread. I believe the story is that Peter Reinhart read something about a traditional bread that Irish villagers baked into which they threw a little bit of everything they were harvesting. Struan Bread as we know it is an attempt to capture the spirit of that loaf.

Regardless of the origin, this bread is wonderful. One is certainly free to experiment with including different or additional grains. I’ve done so a bit and the bread has turned out quite good, though I don’t think any of them have be as excellent as the combination found in the original recipe (reproduced below).

Oh yeah, I need to add that this recipe is roughly the recipe found in Peter Reinhart’s Bread Baker’s Apprentice [1]. I believe he includes versions of it in most of his other baking books (Crust & Crumb and Brother Juniper’s Bread Book come to mind). If you don’t already have one of his bread books on your shelf you owe it to yourself to pick one up.

Struan Bread

Makes 1 large loaf or 2 small loaves

Soaker
3 tablespoons polenta
3 tablespoons rolled oats
2 tablespoons wheat bran
1/4 cup water

Dough
3 cups unbleached bread flour
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon instant yeast
3 tablespoons cooked brown rice
1 1/2 tablespoons honey
1/2 cup buttermilk
3/4 cup water

topping
1 tablespoon poppy seeds

Mix together the ingredients for the soaker. Cover and allow to soak for at least half an hour or as long as overnight.

In a larger bowl, combine the dry ingredients, then stir in wet ingredients and soaker. Add more flour or water until the dough can be formed into a ball that is tacky but not sticky. Place the ball of dough on a clean work surface and knead it for 10 to 12 minutes, then return it to the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow the dough to ferment until doubled in size, approximately 90 minutes.

struan bread

Remove the dough from the bowl, degas it gently, and split it for two loaves or shape it as is for one. Place the loaves in greased bread pans, spritz or sprinkle water on top, and sprinkle a handful of poppy seeds on top.

struan bread

Cover the pans loosely with plastic and allow the loaves to rise until doubled in size again, approximately 90 minutes.

struan bread

Bake these loaves at 350 for 40 to 60 minutes, until the internal temperature is around 190 degrees. When ready the loaves will be quite brown on top and will make a hollow thud when tapped on the bottom.

struan bread

Doesn’t that look good? Trust me, it is WONDERFUL! Try it, it is worth the work!

Related Recipes: Maple Oatmeal Bread [2]

* Great Toasted

All original site content copyright The Fresh Loaf unless stated otherwise.

Source URL: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/recipes/struan

Links:
[1] http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1580082688/froglallabout-20
[2] http://www.thefreshloaf.com/recipes/mapleoatmealbread

Pain Aux Raisins and Cream Cheese Snails
By Floydm
Created Apr 8 2005 - 6:22pm

Authentic Pain Aux Raisins are one of my favorite treats. Rich and sweet without being cloyingly so like your typical donut or danish, they make the perfect accompaniment to a good cup of joe.

Reading The Village Baker [1] I came across a recipe for them and was surprised at how simple they are to make. So last weekend I tried making them and have been blissed out eating them all week.

The one type of danish that I have a weakness for is a cream cheese danish. Wouldn’t you know it, the next recipe in the book is for a cheese danish. It even uses the same base recipe. I couldn’t resist.

Without further ado, the recipes.

I lied: a little further ado.

If you don’t have powdered milk in the house, don’t sweat it: just replace 1/2 cup of the water with milk.

Note that this Pain Au Lait is essentially a Poor Man’s Brioche. If you want you snails to be richer you could substitute a higher class (more butter) Brioche recipe. I find these to be plenty rich for my taste.

Pain Au Lait

1 package (2 1/2 teaspoon) active dry yeast or 2 teaspoons instant yeast
3/4 cup water
3 1/2 cup all-purpose unbleached flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 Tablespoons powdered milk
4 tablespoons sugar
3 eggs
6 tablespoons butter, softened

If using active dry yeast, proof it in 1/2 cup of warm water for 10 minutes. If you are using instant yeast, as I did, it can just be mixed in with the dry ingredients in the next step.

In a large bowl combine the flour, salt, powdered milk, and sugar. Add the yeast, water, and eggs and mix until ingredients are combined. Add the softened butter and mix or knead until the ingredients are thoroughly combined (Ortiz doesn’t describe an extensive kneading step in this recipe, so I guess it is unnecessary). You should have a fairly sticky, satiny dough.

Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and allow the dough to rise until doubled in size (approximately 1 to 1 1/2 hours). Punch the dough down, return it to the bowl and cover it again, and place it in the refrigerator overnight.

In the morning, divide the dough in half and, while still cold, use each half to prepare one batch (8) of each type of snails (or two batches of one of them, if the other doesn’t interest you).

Before beginning, you’ll need to make a simple egg glaze that you will use in both recipes:

Egg Glaze

1 egg
1 tablespoon milk

Whisk to combine.

Cream Cheese Snails

(makes 8 snails)

Filling:
3/4 cup cream cheese
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon egg glaze

Roll the dough out into a large rectangle, approximately 8 by 12 inches. Slice the rectangle into 8 long strips.

Stretch each strip as long and thin as you can (Ortiz says out to 24 inches. I only got mine about 12 to 15 inches long but they were still fine). Twist each strip and then curl each up to make a snail shape.

Place the snails on a parchment-lined or well greased baking sheet and brush them gently with the egg glaze.

Use your fingers to create a well in the center of the snail and then place one tablespoon of the cheese mixture on top. Ortiz also recommends adding a tablespoon of jam, but I find the cheese alone the be plenty sweet.

Let the snails rise for 1 to 1 1/4 hours until they are puffy. Preheat the oven to 385 degrees and bake the snails for between 15 to 17 minutes, until they are golden brown.

Immediately after removing from the oven, paint then with a light sugar glaze:

1/4 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract

If you like them to be extremely sweet, you can dribble them with a fondant glaze (1 to 2 teaspoons of hot water combined with 2/3 cup of powdered sugar) after they have cooled. I did not.

Pain Aux Raisins

(makes 8 snails)

Filling:
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 cup raisins

Roll the dough out into a large rectangle, approximately 8 by 10 inches. Coat the rectangle with the egg glaze and then spread the cinnamon, raisin, and sugar mixture over it.

Roll the the dough up into a large log and then slice it into 8 pieces. Place each of the pieces onto a parchment-lined or well greased baking sheet, press down on them with the palm of your hand to flatten them, and then paint them gently with the egg glaze.

Let the snails rise for 45 minutes to 1 hour until they are puffy. Preheat the oven to 385 degrees and bake the snails for between 15 to 17 minutes, until they are golden brown.

Immediately after removing from the oven, paint then with the same sugar glaze you painted the cream cheese snails with above. Once again, If you like them on the sweet side dribble them with a fondant glaze (1 to 2 teaspoons of hot water combined with 2/3 cup of powdered sugar) after they have cooled. I did not think this was necessary.
HOME | FORUM | LESSONS | THE BREAD FEED | ACTIVITY TRACKER

All original site content copyright The Fresh Loaf unless stated otherwise.

Source URL: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/recipes/creamcheesesnails

Links:
[1] http://www.thefreshloaf.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=36

http://www.tammysrecipes.com/italian_cream_cheese_chicken_pasta

Italian Cream Cheese Chicken over Pasta

Description:

Italian-seasoned chicken and red pepper over linguine, topped with a cream cheese sauce
Yield: 4-6 servings
Ingredients:

4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (about 1.25 pounds), cut into strips or bite-sized chunks
1 medium red bell pepper, cut into strips
1/4 cup sliced green onions
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons apple juice, divided
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, cubed
1/2 cup milk
8 ounces linguine, cooked according to package instructions, and drained
Parmesan cheese, for serving (optional)
Additional Italian seasoning or chopped green onions, for garnish
Instructions:

1. In a medium-large skillet, cook chicken, vegetables, and seasonings in butter over medium heat for about 10-15 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through, stirring occasionally. Add one tablespoon of the apple juice; simmer five minutes.

2. In a small saucepan over low heat, stir together the cream cheese, milk, and remaining one tablespoon apple juice until smooth.

3. Place hot linguine on serving platter; top with chicken mixture and cream cheese sauce. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and garnish if desired. Enjoy!
Italian Cream Cheese Chicken over Pasta

Italian Cream Cheese Chicken over Pasta

Italian cream cheese chicken over pasta
Additional Notes:

This recipe was submitted to tammysrecipes.com by guest chef Erin S. Photos are property of tammysrecipes.com. :)
Preparation Time: 35 minutes
Tammy’s Review:

This is a delicious chicken and pasta recipe! Reading through the list of ingredients, it seems simple, but the taste is fabulous! It’s easy to make, and if you’re a pasta/sauce/chicken fan, then you’ll love this!! :)

I didn’t have green onions, so I substituted regular onions, thinly sliced. It worked great. I did toss in some dried green onions with the chicken, too. And, as you can see from the photos, I have made this with bell peppers that weren’t red, and it was still tasty... though I do think red are the best. Oh, and one last thing — I couldn’t really taste the apple juice much, so I’m guessing if I didn’t have apple juice, I would just use water. :)

My rating: 10/10

http://extraordinaryordinarylife.blogspot.com/2008/07/make-it-yourself-hamburger-helper-mixes.html

Make It Yourself . . . Hamburger Help”er” Mixes

I did get some Hamburger Helper on sale and have been using that up a little bit at a time. I did some research to find these mixes that you could make yourself. Here are a few below. Also, see my post here for an update of the dish washing detergent.

This is from Thrifty Fun

Homemade Ground Beef Helper
2 c. nonfat dry “instant”milk
1 c. cornstarch
1/4 c. unsalted chicken or beef bouillon powder
2 Tbsp. onion flakes
1 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp.dried thyme
1 tsp. black pepper
2 Tbsp. dried parsley
1 Tbsp. garlic powder
Mix the ingredients together and store in an airtight container. Use as base mix for hamburger helpers.

Chili Tomato Mac
Brown 1 pound ground beef or turkey, drain off fat
Add 1 c. water, 1 and one half cups uncooked macaroni, 2 (15 oz) cans diced tomatoes, 1 Tbsp chili powder, and 1/2 cup of the “Helper Mix”. Simmer covered about 20 minutes or until macaroni is tender. Serves about 4 persons.
I found a few other really good recipes at “Mama Says”. She has a lasagna style, cheeseburger style, taco style and stroganoff. You can find them here.

I found another link that I like about Hamburger Helper Mix in a jar. Check it out here. [Good links and recipes, nice blog]

http://extraordinaryordinarylife.blogspot.com/search/label/Make%20it%20Yourself

For more ideas as to what you can Make Yourself, visit Centsible Shopper.

http://centsibleshopper.blogspot.com/

http://extraordinaryordinarylife.blogspot.com/search/label/Make%20it%20Yourself

Make It Yourself . . . Brownie Mix
This Brownie Mix comes from the cookbook Make-A-Mix.

6 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
4 teaspoons salt
8 cups sugar
1 (8-oz.) can unsweetened cocoa powder

In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and cocoa. Stir with a wire whisk until evenly distributed. Put in a large airtight container. Label with date and contents. Store in a cool, dry place. Use within 10 to 12 weeks. Makes about 15 cups Brownie Mix.

To make the brownies:

1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups Brownie Mix
2 Tablespoons of water*
1/2 cup chopped nuts, optional - I always leave these out because we don’t like nuts in our brownies

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour an 8-inch-square pan. Combine melted butter or margarine, eggs, vanilla and Brownie Mix. Beat until smooth. Stir in nuts (if using). Pour into prepared pan. Bake 30 to 35 minutes, until edges separate from pan. Makes 16 brownies.

*I added the 2 Tablespoons of water because I found the batter to be a little dry. This was not in the original recipe

I also cook them until they are almost done and then take them out because we love chewy brownies. If you cook them until they are completely done they are more cake-like. I actually store my brownie mix in a re-purposed coffee container. When I find a glass jar big enough, I will probably store it in there. For you creative people, you can use this as a gift and put it in a cute glass jar with a decorative lid and little cute card with the ingredients and recipe.

http://ahighandnoblecalling.com/2009/03/31/pancakes-a-recipe-freezing-and-storing-them/

Pancakes: A Recipe, Freezing and Storing Them
Posted on Tuesday, March 31, 2009 11:47 in category Homeschool, Keeping the Home, Motherhood, Recipes

I love to have a hearty warm breakfast in the mornings. What I don’t love is pulling out the mixer, the electric griddle and everything else on a busy morning. So usually on the weekends or when I have the extra time, I make up a double batch of pancakes. I store the extras in the freezer to use throughout the week. On a busy morning, voila, we have hot yummy pancakes with the same amount of mess it takes to pour a bowl of cereal!

The first time I froze the extra pancakes, I had a problem with them sticking together and breaking apart when we went to use them. So I began freezing them like this on a cookie sheet:

pancakes-001

I make sure that they are fully cooled, then I arrange them on the cookie sheet and pop it in my freezer for a little bit. They don’t even have to be fully frozen before you can place them in a bag, or a covered container, like this:

pancakes-003

Here is my very favorite pancake recipe, from Dining On A Dime Cookbook. This is for a single batch. If you are doubling the mix, I only use 8 tsp of baking powder:

2 cups of flour

2Tbsp sugar

5tsp of baking powder (use 8 tsp if doubling)

1/4 tsp of salt

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups of milk

1/4 cup vegetable oil

Mix dry ingredients then combine the wet. Mix until just moistened. This mix is lumpy and very thick. Using a ladle, put about 1/2 cup of mix on a hot griddle or frying pan. If you are storing them, cool completely before place on a cookie sheet in the freezer, or it will stick to your cookie sheet and its just not good to put warm food in your freezer!

http://ahighandnoblecalling.com/2008/06/10/simple-healthy-inexpensive-ice-cream/

Simple, Healthy, Inexpensive, Ice Cream
Posted on Tuesday, June 10, 2008 14:36 in category Uncategorized

MMM….ice cream!

We have been dealing with a heat wave this week, and ice cream is just the thing to cool us down. I don’t like all that sugar and who knows what else in store bought ice cream, and I don’t like the huge price tag either.

While we do indulge in the occasional ice cream cone, this is one of my favorite healthy, raw ice cream indulgences that we make regularly. It is cheap, fast and yummy. Two cups of frozen bananas will yield about 1 cup of ice cream for each of us.

Here is what we do:

Load a food processor with frozen chopped bananas, a good squirt of honey ( I use Sue Bee’s Raw Honey), a tsp. of pure vanilla, and I sometimes I will put in a Tbsp. or so of Flax Seed Oil. I will also put in a little bit of water to get the mixture moving.

Pulse the food processor for a few seconds until you get an ice cream consistency. Voila! Homemade Ice Cream! And it is so good!

Sometimes I will make this for breakfast on a hot day. I will add some frozen blueberries or raspberries or strawberries to make a fruit ice cream. Or sometimes I will even add fresh fruit and granola or nuts to it. It’s good for you!

This is the basic mix, you can add numerous things to it. For example for chocolate ice cream you could add some carob powder, mix in some carob chips when it is done etc. You can get pretty creative!

The only drawback is you need to eat right away, it doesn’t store well and loses its ice cream consistency.

Hope you enjoy it as we have!

* Batch Cooking:What It Is And How I Do It (Part 2)
* Thrift Store Locater
* Getting Started Using A Grain Mill
* Homemade Vanilla Extract
* Blueberry Bundt Cake

http://frugalhomekeeping.blogspot.com/

Lemon Coconut Layer Cake

3 egg whites
2 TBSP granulated sugar
3 TBSP canola oil
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 C low-fat buttermilk
2/3 C Splenda Granular
1 large egg
1 C + 2 TBSP cake flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 C lemon curd (or sugar-free lemon pudding)
1 1/4 C light whipped topping
1/3 C shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8-inch cake pan with non-stick baking spray. In a medium bowl, beat 3 egg whites until frothy. Gradually add sugar and continue to beat until soft peaks form when the beaters are lifted from the whites. Set aside.
On medium speed mix oil, vanilla, buttermilk, Spenda and egg in a large bowl and blend until smooth. Gently fold in the beaten egg whites. Spoon into prepared pan and smooth top. Bake for 20 min. or until center springs back when lightly touched. Cool cake in pan on rack for 10 min. Loosen cake from pan by inverting briefly. Let cake layer cool completely.
Set cake on plate and slice horizontally to make two layers. Mix the lemon curd (or sugar-free pudding) and whipped topping together in a bowl. Place 1/2 C of the frosting on the first layer of the cake. Place second layer on top and frost top and sides with the remaining frosting. Sprinkle coconut over the top of the cake. Refrigerate until serving. Makes 8 servings. Keeps very well in the fridge for several days.

(These numbers are accurate if using lemon curd in the recipe).
calories 175
carbs 22 (sugar 7)
protein 4 grams
Diabetic exchange=1 1/2 carbs, 1 1/2 fat
fat 8 grams (sat. 1.5)
fiber 0 grams
sodium 200 milligrams

P. 133 Lemon Curd

2/3 C lemon juice
2 TBSP water
1 large egg, beaten
1 large egg yolk
2 TBSP cornstarch
2/3 C Splenda Granular
2 TBSP light butter

In a med. non-aluminum saucepan thoroughly whisk together the first 6 ingredients. Place pan on stove and turn heat to med. Cook, whisking constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. Boil, whisking for 1 min. Mixture should be thick and clear. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter. Cool. Fourteen servings (1 TBSP each).

Per serving:
calories 25
carbs 4 grams (sugar 0)
protein 0 grams
Diabetic exchange=1/4 carb
fat 1.5 grams (sat. 0.5)
fiber 0 grams
sod
Pium 0 grams

Chicken Bacon Club Pizza

2 loaves of frozen bread dough, thawed
1 jar Ragu alfredo sauce
1 1/2 C Hormel Real Bacon Bits
2 cooked chicken breasts, cubed
Parsley
2 C mozzerella cheese
(Ham bits, broccoli, mushrooms-optional)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spread dough on two pizza pans and make a crimped edge. Half bake the crusts til they don’t look moist any longer. Spread with alfredo sauce,and all toppings except parsley. End with mozzerella layer. Bake until the crust is the way you like it and cheese is melted. Pull out of oven and sprinkle with parsley.
(We had cantaloupe on the side.)

Here’s a tip: If, after Thanksgiving or Christmas you are “turkey-ed out” on sandwiches and want something different, you can make this great pizza with turkey instead of chicken!

_Thursday’s Ultimate Recipe Swap is hosted by www.Lifeasmom.com

Marcia’s Spicy Rice and Sausage

1 Pkg. Jimmy Dean’s sausage (original recipe)
1 jar Ragu Roasted Garlic Sauce
1/2 C chopped onions
1/2 C chopped green pepper
olive oil
Aborio rice (or any long grain rice)

Cook rice and fluff.

Sauce: In large skillet, drizzle olive oil. Add peppers and onions and cook until tender. Add sausage and cook until browned. Add jar of garlic sauce. Simmer for 5 min. Pour over rice. Serve with crusty French bread. This is one of our favorites, especially in the winter.

Crockpot Sirloin Tips and Noodles

1 can French onion soup
1 can beef broth
1 pkg. Lipton Onion Soup

Mix:
1 can water
1 lb. sirloin beef, cubed
1 C seasoned bread cubes (or crumbs)

Put everything except noodles in the crockpot and cook on low for 8 hours, stirring it once in a while.
Cook noodles.
Thicken gravy in crock with a little white sauce.
Pour meat and gravy over noodles.

Cinnamon Rolls in a Snap!
(got this one from Taste of Home magazine when it first came out)

4 1/2 C biscuit mix
1 1/3 C milk

Filling:
2 TBSP butter or margarine, softened
1/4 C sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/3 C raisins (optional)

Icing:
2 C confectioners’ sugar
2 TBSP milk
2 TBSP butter or margarine, melted
1 tsp vanilla extract

Combine biscuit mix and milk. Turn onto a floured surface; knead 8-10 times. Roll the dough into a 12”-10” rectangle. Spread with butter. Combine sugar, cinnamon and raisins; sprinkle over butter. Roll up from a long side; pinsh seam to seal. Cut into 12 slices; place with cut side down on a large baking sheet. Bake at 450 degrees for 10-12 min. or until golden brown. Meanwhile, combine the icing ingredients; spread over rolls. Serve warm. Makes one dozen.

Smothered Chicken with Mushrooms

One 3-lb. frying chicken, cut into serving pieces
Salt and pepper to taste
4 TBSP olive or vegetable oil
2 medium onions, chopped
4 TBSP flour
2 C chicken broth
1 lb. fresh mushrooms, wiped clean and sliced
1/4 C chopped parsley

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Season chicken pieces with salt and pepper.
In a large, heavy-bottomed skillet (I like cast iron) heat the oil over high heat and brown the chicken pieces for 6 to 8 minutes, turning when necessary. Adjust the heat so that the chicken browns quickly, but does not burn. Transfer the chicken to a shallow casserole large enough to hold it in one layer.
Put the onions in the skillet and cook, stirring frequently for about 5 minutes, or until they are soft and transparent. Stir in the flour and mix it well with a spoon. Pour in the chicken broth and, stirring constantly, let it come to a boil. Reduce the heat and let it simmer for 2 to 3 minutes. Pour the sauce over the chicken in the casserole, cover tightly, and bake in the oven for about 20 minutes.
Scatter the mushrooms over the chicken, re-cover, and bake for another 10 minutes, or until the chicken is tender. Sprinkle the parsley over the top and serve.

From “ The Supper Book” by Marion Cunningham Random House 1997

http://everydayfoodstorage.net/

Whole Wheat Quick Bread: Whole Wheat Food Storage Recipes
Posted on April 6th, 2009 by Crystal-Everyday Food Storage

Okay, I’m like you…BUSY! And sometimes I don’t realize how late it is and how soon I’ll need bread. Yikes! But what can you do…bread takes a couple hours to make….or does it? Well a normal yeast bread, yes, it does take a couple of hours. But you can make a quick bread with no yeast in about an hour. This quick bread has the texture of banana or zucchini bread but all the wonderful flavor wheat. I got this great recipe from The Essential Mormon Celebrations cookbook by Julie Badger Jensen, she is also the author of the Essential Mormon Cookbook.)

Whole-Wheat Quick Bread

1 egg, beaten (1 T. dry egg powder + 2 T. water)
2 c. buttermilk (1/3 c. dry milk powder + 2 c. water + 2 T. vinegar or lemon juice, let sit for 5 minutes)
3 T. molasses or honey
2 T. butter, melted
2 c. whole wheat flour
1 t. baking soda
1 t. salt
1 t. baking powder

In a bowl, combine egg, buttermilk, molasses or honey, and butter. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, slat and baking powder. Stir well; add to first mixture and mix well. Pour into a greased loaf pan. bake at 400 degrees for about 45-40 minutes, until lightly brown. Cool slightly then turn out of the pan onto a wire rack. Slice while warm. Makes 1 loaf.

Filed under: Bread, Eggs, Long Term Food Storage, Powdered Milk, Wheat | 2 Comments »

http://everydayfoodstorage.net/page/3

Bread Q & A

Posted on March 23rd, 2009 by Crystal-Everyday Food Storage

While I was on vacation, I received a lot of similar questions so I figured many others probably had the same questions. So here they are answered, along with some great reader comments of tricks they use or have tried.

Is there a difference between Vital Wheat Gluten and Gluten?

It is just specifying that it is a gluten found in wheat. (I think…if someone else knows leave a comment and I’ll correct it) I use vital wheat gluten.

Do I use all of the items you mention as dough enhancers or just pick and choose?

Yes, use ALL of the items (vinegar, gluten, and potato flakes) together for AMAZING bread!

Why do I have to add in gluten…doesn’t kneading the bread create gluten?

Think of it this way….gluten is like the muscles of the bread holding together those air bubbles. Kneading the bread is like flexing or exercising the muscles to make them strong to be able to hold those bubbles with out breaking. So kneading doesn’t create gluten, it just strengthens it. Because whole wheat is heavier than all-purpose flour and has bran and fiber which have jagged edges that can break the gluten we need to add more muscle into the bread.

Where can I buy gluten?

If you live in Utah, it can be purchased at Maceys in their preparedness section of the store. If you don’t live in Utah I would suggest buying it HERE at the Honeyville Grain website because it is cheap and their shipping is a flat $4.49 no matter how much you purchase.

http://store.honeyvillegrain.com/search.aspx?find=gluten

What kind of wheat do you use in this recipe?

I generally use hard white wheat in my recipes.
What is the difference between hard red and hard white wheat and which does the LDS cannery offer?

Hard red wheat is darker in color and stronger in flavor. Hard white wheat is lighter in color and in flavor and is much easier disguised in baked goods. Nutritionally they are basically the same, only differing slightly. The LDS cannery offers both but the white is slightly more expensive (but I think worth the price!) Before the cannery only sold red wheat so if you grew up and tried wheat and didn’t like it, you should try the white wheat. Soft wheats do not have gluten and are not good for bread making, they are used more for pastries.

I’ve heard the LDS Cannery sells wheat with a protein level of only 8%, is that true?

No! A wheat with a protein level of only 8% CAN’T be a hard wheat by definition. The normal range for a soft wheat protein is 9-12% the normal range for a protein of hard wheat is 10-15%. The church’s wheat is between 10-11% protein, which is right on target for a hard wheat (and suitable for bread making-http://extension.usu.edu/foodstorage/htm/wheat). You can figure out the protein percentage by looking at the serving size in grams (for the church it’s 48 g) and the protein weight in grams (for the church it is 5). 5/48=10.4% You can purchase wheat products with a higher protein level at Lehi Roller Mills or Honeyville Grains.

Why do you store your wheat flour and your bread mixes in the fridge?

I store my freshly ground wheat in the fridge or freezer to preserve the nutrition and to keep it from going rancid. If you’re using wheat flour from the store look on the packaging to see how they recommend storing it.

If I don’t have a wheat grinder, can I grind wheat in my blender?

Most likely no. There are some blenders that have a dry blade and a wet blade. If you have one of those, you can grind it in your blender. However, you have an average blender with only one blade you can’t grind wheat in the blender with out water. My suggestion is to find a friend, family member, or neighbor with a wheat grinder that you can borrow. Also, stay tuned the Fun with Food Storage network will be giving a new wheat grinder away! Check back for more information!

What if I don’t have a Kitchen Aid or Bosch for kneading the bread?

If you’re kneading it by hand, don’t put in all the flour to start with so you can use some of the flour for kneading purposes (to keep it from sticking) with out making the bread too heavy. You’ll want to knead it for the same amount of time 10-15 minutes…so you’ll have really defined arms. :)

What if my dough is sticky?

When your dough is sticky, you’ll want to slowly add in more flour until you have the right consistency. (Easy to touch and manage)

What if my dough is too dry?

When your dough is too try, you’ll want to slowly add in more water until you have the right consistency. (Pliable and easy to move around)

Do I have to roll out the dough like you did?

No, it just gives it a nicer bubble texture inside. If you’re in a hurry, you can shape the dough by hand and it will take the form of your pan.

What if I need my bread to rise faster?

There are a couple of options

1) You can up to double the yeast called for in the recipe to cut out an extra raising time.

2) Put the dough in a warm oven (I just let mine pre-heat for about 5 minutes and then turn it off). You can also put it in a warm place in your house, like on top of the dryer while it’s running or by a warm vent)

What if my bread didn’t take as long to rise as you said?

Yeah for you! The time in the recipe is a general specification. Use your judgement as to when the bread is risen.

How can I tell if my yeast is dead?

When your yeast is dissolving in the water you should see it sort of bubbling after 5 minutes. If you don’t see any slight bubble action after five minutes, either check your yeast or water temperature. (Too hot of water can kill the yeast, remember you just want WARM water)

What if my bread tastes too yeasty?

This generally means the bread was rushed. It was either too warm for the rising or too warm of ingredients when the yeast was added.

Can I use a Milk Alternative for the Powdered Milk in a bread recipe?

No. A milk alternative is NOT milk and lacks the nutrition (in fact they add high fructose corn syrup and EXTRA SHORTENING to it) and it lacks the caseine protein which helps bind things in a recipe. Think of it this way, would you substitute Tang for Orange Juice in a recipe? It’s a milk flavored drink, NOT MILK and isn’t recommended for baking with out some adjusting. To find out of you have a milk alternative read the label carefully.

What do I do if I have Instant milk instead of Non-Instant Milk for the recipe?

If you’re using instant milk, double the amount of milk called for.

Do I need to scald the powdered milk?

No! The enzyme that you are trying to kill by scalding the milk is already killed in the process of making powdered milk. Yeah for powdered milk!

What if my bread is doughy in the middle after cooking?

Make sure when you take the bread out of the pan that you turn it over and tap the bottoms. If it sounds hollow then it is done. If it is doughy, it didn’t cook long enough. Cook it for 5 more minutes and try tapping it again to see if it is done.

Can I more than double your recipe?

Sure! You’ll just need more ingredients, more pans and a bigger mixing bowl. :)

Cinnamon mini chips

Okay, this isn’t for my recipe, although I get asked this a lot because I got sent this really great looking recipe (click here to view it) but a lot of you have wondered where to get the cinnamon chips. Lori from ID said her daughter used to work at Great Harvest and that the link below will take you to a place where you can buy similar chips to what Great Harvest uses.

www.preparedpantry.com

I also received some great tips from all of you and wanted to make sure everyone could read them!

Cami G. said...

For those who are interested in making bread on a regular basis, it might be helpful to know that if you use SAF instant yeast, you only need to let your dough raise once, and it will rise really quickly, within 30-45 minutes generally. I can go from putting ingredients into my mixer to pulling loaves out of the oven in 1 to 1 1/2 hours, and only about 5 - 10 minutes of that requires any effort from me. And considering that it only costs about 25 cents a loaf compared with $3+ from the store, making my own bread is totally worth the (very small) investment of my time. Not to mention that it tastes soooo good!

Heather said...

I have been making bread for a long time and it was fun to learn some things I’m going to try. Thank you! You may want to try something that saves me a ton of time in making bread. I have used this with many different whole wheat recipes so I’m sure it will work with your bread recipe as well. I have the dough raise only once. After the bread is kneaded, I immediately form the loafs in pans. While I’m forming the loafs the oven is pre-heating to the lowest temp. (170). After I am done forming all the loafs I put them in and turn the oven off. If the oven is still on it’s way to hot and will start cooking the bread. I raise for 35 minutes and then turn the oven back on to 350 (keep the pans in the oven) and cook for 35 minutes. I have homemade bread an hour and a half. Try it and see if you like it.

-Just wanted to add in on her comment, this is a great time saving technique if you’re in a hurry! It will change the taste of the bread just slightly (double rising gives a better taste) but if you’re in a hurry it’s definitely worth doing!.

Kimberly said…

This bread is AMAZING!! I used 2 Tbs of powdered shortening instead of the oil/butter and I used instant milk. It turned out better than the recipe I have used for years. Okay, much better!!! I also cut the raise time, as it had risen right out of the pan:)

[2 bread making videos on this page for this recipe]

For more information on the wheat grinder I mention in the video click HERE.

EZ Wheat Bread recipe (I doubled this recipe in the video you watched)

1 1/4 cup warm water
1 Tblsp active dry yeast
1/4 cup honey or 1/3 cup sugar
2 3/4 cups whole wheat flour (or whatever combination white/wheat you like..I use 100% hard white wheat. To learn more about the different types of wheat, download my wheat handout)
1/4 cup wheat gluten
1 tsp salt
2 Tblsp nonfat non instant dry milk
1 Tblsp butter/margarine/oil
1 Tblsp vinegar
1/4 cup potato flakes (NOT potato pearls)

Mix ingredients in order listed in mixing bowl of mixer with dough hook attachment (like kitchen-aid) for 12-15 minutes. Let rise until double, 1- 1 1/2 hours. Punch down, and shape into loaf or rolls. Let rise again until double and bake 375 degrees for 20-30 minutes until golden brown and sounds hollow when lightly tapped.
If you are making this recipe in a bread machine, follow your bread machine’s directions for wheat or whole grain selection and add the ingredients in the order listed for their recommendations. (only one loaf will fit in a bread maker)

EZ White Bread

1 1/8 cups warm water
1 3/4 - 2 tsp active dry yeast
2 Tblsp sugar (you can use a little more sugar if you like your dough a little sweeter)
3 cups flour
1 Tblsp vital wheat gluten (remember you don’t need as much gluten if you’re not using whole wheat flour)
1 tsp salt
2 Tblsp nonfat dry milk
1 1/2 Tblsp butter/margarine or oil
1/4 cup potato flakes
(you don’t really need vinegar for white bread, remember the dough enhancers are primarily needed for whole wheat bread)

Add the ingredients in the order listed into a mixer bowl (like a kitchen-aid) with a dough hook attachment and mix on low for 10-12 minutes. Or mix it on the dough cycle in your bread machine.
After all the mixing is complete, if the dough still seems too gooey and you are unable to handle it, add 1 Tblsp flour at a time, and mix after each addition until the dough is manageable with your hands.

Let rise 45 mins -1 hour, punch down and use to make bread, cinnamon rolls, cookie sheet pizza, rolls, or anything else you can think of! Let rise after you have made your creation and bake according to the direction of the recipe you are making.
If you are making it into bread, form into a loaf at this time, place in a loaf pan, let rise in a warm place 45 min -1 hour and bake 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes until golden brown and sounds hollow when lightly tapped.
If you are making this recipe in a bread machine. Follow your bread machine’s directions and add the ingredients in the order listed in their recommendations. (only one loaf will fit in a bread maker)

http://everydayfoodstorage.net/page/4

[Will someone watch this blog for her new recipes, ideas and videos? Please....granny]

Dough Enhancers for making Delicious Bread: Food Storage Recipes
Posted on March 9th, 2009 by Crystal-Everyday Food Storage

One of my most commonly asked questions is about gluten and it’s purpose in a whole wheat bread. So that has also spurred on questions about a dough enhancer. You should definitely be using dough enhancers in your whole wheat bread because whole wheat flour is heavier and courser than all-purpose flour. The problem is that dough enhancer as a product can be very expensive and you can actually make your own! But in order to understand how to use the dough enhancers we need to understand their purpose in bread. Then you can make any whole wheat food storage bread recipe DELICIOUS with your own dough enhancers! After all we need to know how to make our recipes delicious food storage recipes!

Tips for using your own everyday items as dough enhancers in WHEAT BREAD: (It’s best to use ALL THREE of these enhancers when making whole wheat bread)
Gluten: use 1/2 T. - 1 T. per cup of flour (this means before you measure a cup of flour place the 1/2 T.-1 T. gluten in the bottom of your cup and then measure flour as usual)
WHITE Vinegar: use the same amount of vinegar that you are using for yeast (i.e. 1 t. yeast - 1 t. vinegar)
Potato Flakes: use 1/8 to 1/4 C. per loaf of bread you are making, experiment to see what works best in your recipe. (do not substitute in potato pearls, they don’t dissolve as easily and are artificially flavored which you will be able to taste in your bread)

Make sure to check back Wednesday for my video on how to make bread (non bread machine style!)

Filed under: Baking, Bread, Cooking Tips, How To Video | 19 Comments »
The Wonderful World of Bread…more AWESOME Food Storage Recipes…coming SOON!
Posted on March 5th, 2009 by Crystal-Everyday Food Storage

You asked for it and you’re getting it! The Wonderful World of Bread will begin March 9th and last through the end of the month. There will be recipes, pictures, and of course how-to videos to make it even easier for you! It is going to be awesome and by the end of the month you’ll be a bread expert! We’ll be covering things like…

1. What is the deal with Gluten and Dough Enhancers
2. Answering a fanatic challenge: making homemade bread that tastes just like store bought bread (and of course my food storage recipe for store bought bread contains a lot of food storage!) ingredients!)
3. Bread (type items) from other countries (i.e. tortillas, pitas, etc.)
4. Sweet Breads
5. Sour Dough Starters
6. AND MORE…SO MUCH MORE!

You won’t want to miss one post!

Filed under: Bread, General Food Storage Information, Wheat | 21 Comments »
Don’t miss the next websiode for Fun with Food Storage!
Posted on March 3rd, 2009 by Crystal-Everyday Food Storage

http://everydayfoodstorage.net/page/5

Fanatic Friday Food Storage Recipe Rewind: Sweet & Sour Meatballs: Rice Food Storage Recipes
Posted on February 20th, 2009 by Crystal-Everyday Food Storage

This is one of my favorite meals from growin up. As a kid it was delicious because it’s sweet and has the pineapple in it and….well…it’s still completely delicious as an adult. It’s really easy to make and if you don’t have frozen meatballs you can make some, bake them, and then freeze them and always have them on hand. Plus, it sits on rice. I think rice is on of the easiest food storage items.
Sweet & Sour Meatballs
20 Meatballs

Combine and Cook in a skillet until the sauce is Clear and thick:
1 can 20 oz. Pineapple Chunks & Juice
1/3 C. Vinegar
6 T. Sugar
1 T. Soy Sauce
3-4 T. Corn Starch mixed into 1/3 C. Water (I just mix the cornstarch into my liquid measurer)

2 Green peppers cut into strips, add to above and simmer 5 min.
3 Tomatoes cut in wedges, stir into above and serve immediately over rice.

Meatballs
2 lbs. raw Ground Beaf
1/2 C. Oatmeal
1 beaten egg (2 T. Dry Egg Powder + 1/4 c. water)
2 tsp. Salt
1/2 tsp. Garlic Powder
Combine ingredients and form into walnut size balls and bak in jelly roll pan at 425 for about 10-15 minutes or brown in 3 T. Butter on large skillet.

http://everydayfoodstorage.net/page/6

I’ve been making this recipe since college and was excited that it used rice for the food storage…until I figured out how to make it using MAGIC MIX! Now it’s even easier to make (which in and of itself is shocking) and SUPER delicious!

Lemon Pepper Chicken Saute

4 chicken breasts
2 T. butter
1 c. baby carrots, quartered length wise
1/3 c. sliced green onions
1 c. chicken broth (I made mine from bouillon…so much cheaper)
1/2 c. MAGIC MIX
2 t. lemon pepper
1/4 c. sour cream or cream cheese
1 t. parsley flakes

In large skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Saute chicken 7-10 minutes per side or until done; remove from skillet. Keep warm.

Add carrots and onions to skillet. Saute 2 minutes. Pour in chicken broth, lemon pepper, MAGIC MIX (remember you can add MAGIC MIX directly to a hot liquid with OUT it clumping!) Stir with wire whisk until thickened. Simmer 2 minutes. Add sour cream/cream cheese and parsley. Simmer 2 minutes. Spoon over chicken and serve over rice.

If you have questions about rice, make sure you read my previous post about rice by clicking HERE.

Filed under: Long Term Food Storage, Magic Mix, Powdered Milk, Rice, Short Term Food Storage | 10 Comments »
Rice Food Storage Tips
Posted on February 16th, 2009 by Crystal-Everyday Food Storage

Rice is a great grain to store in your long term food storage (especially if you, like me, have a loved one who lived in Asia for 2 years :). You should have 300 pounds of grains per person in your family in your long term food storage and rice can make up some of that 300 pounds (READ your grains don’t need to consist entirely of wheat-they should consist of wheat, pasta, rice, and oats). So before I get into the delicious recipes I have for rice…after all my husband says there is nothing better than a belly full of rice…I wanted to go over some basics of rice.

Can I only store Long Grain white rice?

Well, the LDS cannery only sells long grain white rice, however, if you’re like me and have someone in your family who has lived in Asia they probably aren’t big fans of white rice. You can store the long grain, medium, or short (sticky) types of rice in your long term food storage. Stored properly these three types of white rice will last 25-30+ years. Brown rice should not be stored for long periods of time because it is considered an “oily grain” and will deteriorate or go rancid. (Click here for the brown rice source) For those of you concerned about not having brown rice for nutritional reasons, you’ll be pleasantly surprised to know that you can actually cook cracked wheat as a rice substitute (it cooks the same way 1-2-3, 1 C. cracked wheat + 2 C. boiling water = 3 C. cooked and get similar nutritional benefits.

How should I store my Rice?

Store rice in a tightly sealed container. Food safe plastics (PETE) containers, glass jars, #10 cans (commercial size) lined with a food-grade enamel lining and Mylar®-type bags work best for long-term storage. Use food-safe oxygen absorbers [Bj5] available from food storage supply stores to preserve rice quality, and protect from insect infestation. #10 cans will hold approximate 5.7 lbs (2.6 kgs) of rice. (Click here for source)

How long does Rice last once opened?

You should use your rice with in 2 years of opening the packaging. (Click here for source)

What are the benefits of cooking with Rice?

In the United States, vitamins and minerals: iron, niacin, thiamin, and folic acid are added to rice. Rice is high in starch and fiber. In addition, rice is low in sodium and a good source of protein. (Click here for source)

Making a complete meal with Rice

As stated above rice is a starch so to balance out your meal with rice, it’s always good to serve it with a protein. Also, since it counts for a starch you may want to steer clear of serving rice with additional starches at the dinner table like potatoes and rolls.

How do you cook long grain rice?

To make 3 C. of cooked rice you will begin by boiling 2 C. of water. When the water is boiling, add a dash of salt, a little butter (optional), and 1 C. of rice. Cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 15-20 minutes or until water is gone. *Make sure to look over rice for any foreign bits BEFORE cooking.

**As a note about the magnets: Thank you to everyone who purchased a set. They have officially sold out. I sent a big batch out last week and will send the second half out this week. I’ll try and get some more printed but I don’t know when they’ll have that good deal again…I’ll keep you posted. Thanks!

http://everydayfoodstorage.net/2008/05/21/the-magic-of-magic-mix-recipes-perfect-for-kids/food-storage-recipes

Magic Mix Recipe, Cheeseburger Mac ‘n Cheese, and Magic Mix Pudding- Magic Mix Food Storage Recipes
Posted on May 21st, 2008 by Crystal-Everyday Food Storage

I’ve heard about this “Magic Mix” from the USU Extension Service which is made from powdered milk and knew I had to give it a try when it claimed to make very easy white sauces. All I have to say is that I have a new MUST HAVE in my fridge! White sauces can be hard to make. If you don’t do it just right then you have this thick clumpy mess, we all know what I’m talking about right? Well say “goodbye” to that and say “hello” to Magic Mix and perfect white sauces. It is AWESOME!!! Not only does it use powdered milk it saves TONS of time & money and is super EASY to use!! Try these recipes out for try, your family won’t be able to resist!

McDonald’s Cheeseburger Macaroni and Cheese
(no joke! It tastes just like a McDonald’s cheeseburger, what kid can resist? Not to mention it’s a complete meal in one and is just as easy and fast as the stuff in the blue box plus it sneaks in vegetables. Try it! Your family will eat powdered milk! :)

Ingredients:
2 C. White Sauce from Magic Mix (See Below)
2 C. Uncooked Macaroni (from food storage :)
2 C. Cheese
1-2 tsp. salt or garlic salt (optional)
1/2 C. Ketchup
1 T. Yellow Mustard
1 lb. Cooked Ground Beef (I cook all my ground beef when I buy it and separate it into 1 lb. bags which makes a meal like this SOO easy!)
1/4 C. Dehydrated Onion hydrated in 1/2 C. Warm Water, drained (optional)
1 Bag Frozen Mixed Vegetables (if you want an easy way to cook frozen vegetables, simply poke the bag with a fork and cook in your microwave for 5-6 minutes. Those new Steamer veggie bags do the same thing but are tons more money!)

Directions:
Cook Macaroni in boiling water until tender. Cook hamburger while macaroni cooks. Drain macaroni and make white sauce in empty pot. Combine all ingredients and heat through. (I garnished mine with fresh tomatoes.)

Magic Mix White Sauce-makes 1 C.
2/3 C. Magic Mix
1 C. Water
In saucepan combine Magic Mix and water. Stir rapidly (I use a wire wisk) over medium heat until it starts to bubble. (Use Magic Mix White Sauce for all recipes calling for a white or cream sauce.)
Magic Mix Pudding- Makes 4 1/2 C. Servings
Okay, I don’t even like pudding but since my husband does I thought I’d make him some (and what kid doesn’t like pudding?). I was able to make it while my macaroni was boiling and it chilled while we ate. Well I took one bite and was SOLD!!! I’ve never had pudding that tasted so good, was so easy to make, and took such little effort!!
1/2 C. Sugar
1 C. Magic Mix
2-3 T. Cocoa (optional)
2 C. Water
1 t. Vanilla
Combine Magic Mix, sugar and cocoa in saucepan and mix well. Add water, stir over medium heat until pudding bubbles. Add vanilla and beat. Cover and Cool.

The secret behind making MAGIC MIX: (Makes 5 Cups of Magic Mix)

Step 1: You will need some sort of good mixer. Make sure you use beaters when making the mix as shown above. If you don’t have a good mixer, start calling around…get together with a friend and make some…it is SOOOO worth it!

Step 2:

Ingredients:
2 1/3 C. Powdered Milk
1 C. All Purpose Flour (Yes, use All Purpose)
1 C. (2 sticks) Margarine (***HAS TO BE REAL MARGARINE, NOT SPREAD***) or Butter, at room temperature

Combine dry milk, flour and margarine/butter into a large bowl.

Step 3: Mix until it looks like corn meal. (You may want to start off slow and work up to the fastest setting so that it doesn’t blow powder all over)

Step 4: Keep mix tightly covered in the refrigerator. (note: keep your #10 cans for just such a purpose! They are 50 cents and work great for storing home made mixes)

Stay tuned..my husband’s favorite cookie bar is coming next as we explore making Sweetened Condensed milk out of powdered milk. DELICIOUS!!

For more tips and tricks for using food storage in your everyday recipes, please visit www.everydayfoodstorage.NET

I think I found a reliable conversion for butter powder:

1 teaspoon Dehydrated Butter Powder = 1 tablespoon fresh butter

so 16 teaspoons (2 sticks of butter @ 8 tbsp each) would be 1/3 cup butter powder.

I’ll give it a try.

#
Melanie, on March 28th, 2009 at 6:41 pm Said:

I already had a variation of the Magic Mix in the fridge using 1/2 cup cornstarch and twice the (instant) milk powder. I made chocolate pudding using this recipe with 1 1/4 parts magic mix and it has turned out delightful! Thanks

[video on page]

http://everydayfoodstorage.net/page/6

Considering the recipe I made uses applesauce this is a great time to learn how to make applesauce from your dehydrated apple slices (see it’s so easy to make any recipe a food storage recipe!) It is easy, delicious and no one will know! You can use this in baking to substitute for oil or as a snack.

Applesauce-Food Storage Style!

To reconstitute apple slices use equal parts of dried apples to boiling water. For example:
2 cups dried apples 2 cups boiling water
Let: this set at least 5 minutes.

If you put this mixture through the blender you will have applesauce. For variety add 3 tbsp. Cinnamon Heart Candy to the mixture before you let it set or try some Cinnamon (about 2-3 t.) and Sugar (about 3-4 T.) mixture in it.

With the only thing consistant about gas and food prices is the fact that they are consistantly going up, my husband and I have been doing a lot more dates at home. It is so easy to swap baby-sitting with a neighbor (or if you kids are old enough, eat up stairs while they play downstiars) and spend some one on one time together with little effort and for CHEAP! (and of course some food storage mixed in :) This meal was SO delicious, easy and cost me about $4.00 to make. That wouldn’t even feed my husband and me at a fast food restaurant!

Grilled Pork Chops with Apple-Cranberry Sauce

Again, a great time to practice cooking with an alternate heat source! The topping is simply 2 C. applesauce (I made mine from the dehydrated apple slices) and 1 can Whole Cranberry Sauce (NOT jellied). The topping looks so gourmet with the chunks of cranberry and apple and takes NO time to make!

Roasted Garlic & Rosemary Mashed Potatoes

Potato pearls are great but I have heard of people not liking them. I want to suggest to you to add in some sour cream or cream cheese and butter to them. You add those ingredients into normal mashed potatoes so why not the pearls/flakes? If you really want to fake out the family, make sure and beat them just like you would “real” mashed potatoes.

3 cloves Roasted Garlic, chopped (I roast mine on the grill while I’m grilling the meat. You will need to turn them frequently so they don’t get burned. It will cook in about 3-4 minutes)
1 T. fresh rosemary spriggs or 1 t. dried rosemary
1/2-3/4 C. Sour Cream
2 T. Butter

Add the above ingredients to your 1 batch of potato pearls (directions are on the can). Beating your potato pearls or flakes gives it a great consistency and adds in a little air for that whipped creamy texture. It’s a great way to disguise using potato pearls instead of regular potatoes.

http://everydayfoodstorage.net/page/7

Slow Cooker Lasagna: Food Storage Recipes
Posted on February 3rd, 2009 by Crystal-Everyday Food Storage

I don’t know why, but personally I’m always afraid to make lasagna. It just FEELS like a lot of effort and time…which is why I was so excited to find this recipe from Kraft Foods (and to notice that it is a great food storage recipe as well) to do in the slow cooker (you don’t even need to cook the noodles before hand!) It was simple (especially when you have frozen hamburger in your freezer, just make sure it is thawed BEFORE you add it to your slow cooker)

Slow Cooker Lasagna
* 8 lasagna noodles, uncooked
* 1 lb. ground beef
* 1 tsp. Italian Seasoning
* 28 oz. jar spaghetti sauce (I made my own…click HERE to do the same)
* 1/3 cup water
* 4 oz. can mushrooms
* 15 oz. ricotta or 24 oz. cottage cheese
* 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Preparation
1. Break noodles. Place half in bottom of greased slow cooker.

2. Brown ground beef. Drain. Stir in Italian seasoning. Spread half over noodles in slow cooker.

3. Layer half of sauce and water, half of mushrooms, half of ricotta or cottage cheese and half of mozzarella cheese over beef. Repeat layers.

4. Cover. Cook on low for 5 hours. (You can also double these ingredients and make 3 layers.)

http://everydayfoodstorage.net/page/8

Fanatic Friday Food Storage Recipe Rewind: Super Easy Beef Stroganoff: Food Storage Recipes
Posted on January 30th, 2009 by Crystal-Everyday Food Storage

Beef Stroganoff
1 lb. stew meat, cubed
½ C. dried minced onion
1 can cream of mushroom soup (click HERE to see how to make your own!)
1 can mushrooms, drained
¼ tsp. garlic salt
1 C. sour cream (for richer taste, substitute1 pkg cream cheese)

Combine all ingredients except sour cream in greased slow cooker. Cover and cook on low heat 6-8 hours. Add sour cream the last hour of cooking. Makes 4-6 servings.

Spoon over hot noodles.

I got this food storage recipe from “101 Things to do with a Slow Cooker” by Stephanie Ashcroft. I love it because it is very easy (especially if you store your meat already cubed) and the most delicious beef stroganoff I’ve ever eaten. Everyone I serve it to just RAVES about how delicious it is. Another perk is that all the ingredients minus the sour cream come from either long term food storage (dried minced onion=dehydrated onion) or my short term food storage (cream of mushroom soup, canned mushrooms, noodles, etc.) I think you could even use canned beef in the recipe if you’re out of time and don’t use the slow cooker, but I’ll have to try it and let you know :)

Don’t be afraid to use your slow cooker in the summer it is still a great way to start a meal in the morning and have it ready in the evening with out heating up your house!

For more tips and tricks for using your food storage in everyday ways, please visit www.everydayfoodstorage.NET

http://everydayfoodstorage.net/2008/11/11/condensed-cream-of-mushroom-soup-made-from-magic-mix/food-storage-recipes

Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup made from Magic Mix: Magic Mix Food Storage Recipes
Posted on November 11th, 2008 by Crystal-Everyday Food Storage

Welcome to my newly re-designed website! I hope you notice how functional it is now and hopefully the information will be easier for you and your friends to get to! Anyway…on to the good stuff. Making condensed cream of mushroom is just as easy and better tasting (I think!). I also love the big chunks of mushroom (if you don’t, just cut up your pieces) because it makes everything look more gourmet!

Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup

1 C. Magic Mix
1 4.5 oz. can Mushroom pieces and stems (SAVE THE WATER!)
1/4 C. Water
Dash of Onion Salt
1-2 drops Kitchen Bouqet,optional (check the previous video to see what this is)

Combine all ingredients over medium heat. Stir constantly until mixture begins to bubble and thicken. Remove from heat immediately.

Now for a recipe to try with the soup….my favorite…

Salisbury Steak!

4 Hamburger Patties
1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup
3 C. prepared rice

Brown hamburger patties over high heat on both sides. Top with mushroom soup and lower heat to low. Cook for 10-15 minutes or until inside of patties is no longer pink. Remove patties from pan. Mix soup and meat drippings for gravy (if you want it thicker, add in a little flour and water or cornstarch and water). Server over hot rice.

http://everydayfoodstorage.net/page/8

Using your Bread Machine to make Dough: Whole Wheat Food Storage Recipes
Posted on January 28th, 2009 by Crystal-Everyday Food Storage

Okay, so I was watching the Brady Bunch the other day (the only thing my baby likes to watch…hilarious, right?) Anyway, it was that famous episode where Jan makes up her boyfriend “George Glass” and she has the operater call the house back so she can pretend it’s her boyfriend. Well during one of those phone calls the family is eating dinner and they passed around this big bowl full of rolls. It looked really delicious to me (considering it was 5:30 and almost time for dinner). It made me a little reminiscent of times gone by…and made me wish I too could have rolls with my dinner. I shrugged it off by telling myself a) the Brady Bunch isn’t real (unfortunately) and b) even if it were, the have ALICE! so of course it would be impossible for me to have home made rolls with dinner….as easily as the Brady Bunch did.

Then I realized…I do have an Alice…in my BREAD MACHINE! I don’t know why this all never clicked before! Most bread machines have a “time delay” function which also works for the dough setting. So now when I want rolls for dinner, I can get all of the ingredients together in my bread machine right after lunch when I get dinner going or in the morning when I set up my crock pot and use the timer delay setting! And to make it even easier, when I’m making my bread mixes I also make a couple of roll mixes. You can use your favorite bread recipe to make rolls or I have a great whole wheat food storage recipe that I love more as rolls. Which of course I’ll share with you!

If you want to see my how-to video on how to shape rolls and get your rolls to rise quicker plus another great rolls recipe, click HERE.

Here is my new favorite whole wheat rolls recipe from Tammy in Huntington Beach!

EZ Dough Wheat Version
1 1/4 cup warm water
1 Tblsp active dry yeast (I half the yeast since I live in high altitude)
1/4 cup honey or 1/3 cup sugar
2 3/4 cups whole wheat flour (or whatever combination white/wheat you like)+ 1/4 cup vital wheat gluten
1 tsp salt
2 Tblsp nonfat dry milk
1 Tblsp butter/margarine/oil
Mix ingredients in order listed in mixing bowl of mixer with dough hook attachment (like kitchen-aid) for 12-15 minutes. Let rise until double, 1- 1 1/2 hours. Punch down, and shape into loaf or rolls. Let rise again until double and bake 375 degrees for 20-30 minutes until golden brown and sounds hollow when lightly tapped. If you are making this recipe in a bread machine, follow your bread machine’s directions for wheat or whole grain selection and add the ingredients in the order listed for their recommendations.

Need a good bread machine? Check your local second hand store first. I know every time I go I see at least TWO! It’s a great way to see how often you’d use a bread machine BEFORE you invest in a nice one.

Slow Cooker Shepherd’s Pie: Food Storage Recipes
Posted on January 25th, 2009 by Crystal-Everyday Food Storage

Oh how I love my slow cooker! Nothing makes getting dinner ready any easier then starting it in the morning and forgetting about it until dinner time! (Not to mention it fills your house with great aromas!) The other plus to using a slow cooker is the food storage you’ll use! A lot of slow cooker recipes call for canned vegetables, canned condensed soups (which you can make from magic mix, click here for more info), mashed potatoes, and so on. So now we’re officially killing three stones at once! We’re making dinner for our families, using our food storage, and getting something else done in the time that it would normally take you to get dinner ready. I especially use slow cooker meals on days when a) I know I won’t be home in the afternoon/evening due to doctors appointments or other meetings b) have a really busy day ahead of me or c) don’t feel like cooking and cleaning up a huge mess for dinner! (Yes, sometimes I do feel that way! ;) ) Anyway, I’m sure you’re already sold on slow cookers so on to the recipe!… This recipe comes from my FAVORITE slow cooker cookbook. I’m sure you’ve heard of it and if you haven’t click HERE to learn more about it…

101 Things to do with a Slow Cooker. It’s written by the same girl who did 101 things to do with a Cake Mix (also one of my favorites!). All of her recipes are “throw-and-go”, super easy, use a lot of food storage, and her cookbooks are CHEAP! (Plus, did I mention she has tips for how to make any recipe work in a slow cooker?!) I highly recommend getting the slow cooker recipe book if you’re serious about incorporating your slow cooker more in your resolution of getting meals on the table.

Shepherd’s Pie
1 lb. ground beef, browned and drained (I always cook all my ground beef as soon as I bring it home from the store and then store it in 1 lb. bags making dinners like this one even easier!)
1 can Condensed Tomato soup
1 can Corn, Drained
1 can Green Beans, Drained
2 C. Instant Mashed Potatoes, prepared (use either left over mashed potatoes or you can use potato pearls or flakes from your food storage)
2 C. Shredded Cheddar Cheese
1/2 t. Dried Basil In a separate bowl, combine beef, tomato soup, corn, beans, and basil. Pour mixture in the bottom of a greased 3 1/2 to 5-quart slow cooker. Spread mashed potatoes on top. cover and cook on low heat 5-6 hours. The last hour of cooking ,sprinkle cheese on top of potatoes.
Makes 4-6 servings.

Serve with wheat rolls. (And that I did! This post is getting long so I’ll put my trick for making home made rolls EASY on Wednesday!)

Don’t forget to head over to Food Storage Made Easy to see the list they compiled of helpful storage tips for small spaces. You won’t be dissapointed!

http://frugalhomekeeping.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2009-03-29T15%3A20%3A00-07%3A00&max-results=7

Fresh Corn Tamale

Fresh corn on the cob 12 ears
Lard (shortening) 4 TBSP
Flour 3 TBSP
Baking powder 1 tsp
Egg yolks 3
Salt to taste
Boiled chicken or boiled chicken breasts - 1 chicken or 3 breasts
Mole sauce (tomato sauce may be substituted) 3 C

Cut corn from cob and grind or grate. Heat lard and fry corn, stirring constantly antil transparent.
Remove from fire, add flour, baking powder and egg yolks and beat for a few minutes with wooden spoon.

Put half of this mixture in ovenproof dish or casserole, then cut- up deboned chicken, mixed with mole sauce (or tomato sauce). Cover with the other half of corn and bake in the oven until cooked. Insert a toothpick to test for doneness.

Tamale Pie

Yellow cornmeal 2 C
Boiling water 6 C
Salt 1 tsp

Stir meal in boiling water (salted) until it begins to thicken. Cook slowly 30 min.

Ground meat (beef or any) 1 lb.
Onions chopped fine 2
Garlic 1 clove
Chicken fat or oil
Salt 1 tsp
Chili powder 2 TBSP
Red pepper pinch
Canned tomatoes (mashed) 2 C

Fry the meat, onions and garlic until golden brown in chicken fat or oil. Add dry ingredients and tomatoes and juice. Cook slowly for 1 hour. Line greased pan with half the cornmeal mush, pour meat sauce on mush, then cover wth the rest of mush. Bake in oven 1 hour at 350 degrees. Serves 4 to 6.

Cae’s Spicy Corn Casserole

3 to 4 cans of corn, drained (or 1 1/2 bags of frozen)
4 American cheese slices
cheddar cheese-shredded on top
8 oz. cream cheese
1 small can of mushrooms, draines
1 can diced chilis, drained
Mix corn, American cheese and cream cheese for 2 min., just to melt cheese.
Add mushrooms and chilis; put shredded cheddar on top. Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 min.

Aunt Vivian’s Chicken Spaghetti

3 lbs. of chicken (can cook ahead)
1 lb. of spaghetti
3 tsp. chili powder

Using 1 stick of butter in a skillet, saute’ :
1 C chopped celery
1 small onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped

To saute’d mixture, add:
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 lb. Velveeta cheese, cubed
1/2 C black olives, chopped
1/2 C green olives, chopped
1 can Rotel tomatoes
Stir until cheese is melted.

Debone chicken; save broth
Cook spaghetti in broth; do not drain. Mix well with above ingredients. Bake at 300 degrees for 45 min. in uncovered 9”x13” pan or casserole dish.

Ona Clendennin’s Harvard Beets

2 1 lb. (13 oz.) cans sliced beets or 12-15 small beets, cooked
1 TBSP corn starch
3 TBSP vinegar
3 TBSP sugar, or 1/4 C light brown sugar
1 tsp salt
1 TBSP butter

Drain the beets and save the juice. Mix corn starch with 1/2 C beet juice. Add vinegar, sugar and salt. Cook until thichened, stirring constantly. Add the beets. When ready to serve, add the butter and simmer until beets are heated through.
8 servings

Here’s one of my recipes to share:

Easy Shortcut Blackberry Cake

1 box Spice Cake mix
1/2 C Crisco
2 or 3 eggs
1 can blackberry pie filling

Mix first 3 ingredients well. Fold in berries.
Bake in greased 9”x 13” pan until center springs back. Completely cool. Frost with caramel icing.

Carmel Frosting

1/2 C butter
1 C brown sugar
1/4 C powdered milk
2 C confectioners sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Melt butter; add brown sugar. Let bubble 2 min. while stirring. Add 1/4 C water and powdered milk; bring to a boil. Remove from heat; beat in confectioners sugar; add vanilla. Spread over cake.

http://frugalhomekeeping.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2009-03-19T11%3A12%3A00-07%3A00&max-results=7

Again, these are recipes that are favorites at our house, or old family favorites, or church and other event favorites. I’ll try to give credit where credit is due as often as I can. Happy cooking!

Jack Daniel’s Meatballs

1 38 oz. bag of frozen meatballs (Rosina’s are good, or you can make your own) thawed
1 19 oz. bottle “Jack Daniel’s Original No. 7 BBQ Sauce”
1 envelope Lipton dry onion soup mix
1 12 oz. jar apricot preserves

Combine BBQ sauce, soup mix and preserves in saucepan over medium heat. Add meatballs and bring to a boil. You can then put these in a crock pot on Low or Keep Warm setting if they are for a party or get together.

Brownie Chip Cookies
(These are so easy and convenient! I called my mom in a panic once because I had lost the recipe in my move to Oklahoma and needed it for a school event).

1 Family size brownie mix
2 eggs
1/4 C oil
1 C (6 oz.) chocolate, peanut butter, or white chocolate baking chips
1 can of frosting (optional)
M&M candies (optional)

Mix above ingredients together; stir in baking chips at the end. Bake 2” apart on greased cookie sheets at 350 degrees for 10-12 min. Do not over bake! Cool on racks. After cooling you can frost with chocolate or vanilla frosting (canned or homemade) or you can push M&Ms into the tops when just out of the oven.

Aunt Sis’ (Ruth Ann Martin) Rhubarb Preserves

5 C Rhubarb
3 C sugar
2 TBSP butter
1 pkg. wild strawberry Jello (3 oz.)

Combine rhubarb and sugar; let stand overnight. Boil 12-15 min. Remove from heat and add Jello. Stir well; add butter. Pour into jars and seal. Keep in refrigerator.

Party Pennies
2 pkg. hotdogs, sliced
1 small jar grape or apple jelly
1 small jar yellow mustard

Make sauce by combining jelly and mustard in crockpot until smooth. Add sliced hotdogs. You can use stick pretzels in place of toothpicks when serving these to children.

Microwave All-At-Once Spaghetti
1 TBSP butter or margarine
1 C onion, chopped
1 lb. ground beef
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp basil
1/4 lb. uncooked spaghetti
grated parmesan cheese
2 8 oz. cans tomato sauce
1 1/2 C water
1/2 tsp oregano

Place butter and onion in a 2 qt. casserole dish. Heat in microwave on High 3 to 4 min. until onion is tender. Add ground beef and cook on High 3 to 4 min. until no longer pink; stir halfway through cooking time. Drain. Add salt, pepper, tomato sauce, water, oregano and basil. Cook in microwave, covered, on High for 6 min. Break the uncooked spaghetti into mixture and stir. Cover and cook on High for 18-20 min.-stirring every 6 min. After it’s done, sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

Asian Beef and Noodles

1 1/4 lb. ground chuck (leftover beef or hamburger can be used)
2 pkg. ramen noodles-Oriental flavor
2 C frozen vegetables (bag of frozen broccoli or leftover veggies work, too)
1/4 tsp ground ginger
2 TBSP thinly-sliced green onions

In large skillet, brown meat over med. heat for 8-10 min. (or reheat cooked meat). Pour off any grease. Season meat with 1 pkg. of ramen seasoning mix; set aside. In same skillet, combine 2 C water, noodles (broken up), vegetables, ginger and the other seasoning pkg. from ramen. Bring to a boil; reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 3 min. Return beef to skillet; heat thoroughly. Stir in green onions before serving. Good with a little soy sauce.

Gardens....

At least, I have a little good news. I have found a couple of weapons in my “Battle of Defensive Landscaping” and I’m willing to share them. First, if you are guilty of over watering or under watering, especially the potted victims eh...plants on your porch get some Scotts Moisture Control Potting Soil; the best price I’ve found, compared to home improvement centers, was at Sam’s. But, it wasn’t a big price difference, and you might not need that big of a bag.

Next, if you plant tomato plants, drop a whole egg into the planting hole before you insert the plant. This provides extra calcium and other nutrients (and gives the plant a fighting chance, in my case). This tip came from an expert tomato grower that was featured in our newspaper a while back.

Surely, you didn’t think that I came up with that!

Finally, I’m sharing the best gardening book that I’ve ever read for bone-head gardeners. I have searched several plant and gardening books over the years, and own many of them. My problem is that they are talking over my head. I needed a book that was so basic that it explained which side of the house to plant on for different types of plants.

One tip that this book offered was how to remulch landscaping that’s been neglected without having to till it or pull up all the weeds and grass. You simply lay several sheets of newspaper down, overlapping it by three inches and put the new mulch on top. The newspaper will block out all sunlight and kill everything under it. The paper will eventually biodegrade, unlike that black landscaping plastic. You are supposed to use three or four layers of newspaper, and eight to ten layers if you have especially tough weeds. When we did this procedure, we also showered it with water at the end to soak the mulch and paper down so it wouldn’t blow away in the Oklahoma wind. Once we started this, I did recall an older couple that were good friends of ours who laid newspapers under their drip hoses in between the rows of their garden. Mickey and Lee had a beautiful garden every year; I really admire people who know what they’re doing.

The book that made me feel less stressed this year about the whole landscaping battle is written by Cassandra Danz and is called

Mrs. Greenthumbs Plows Ahead: Five Steps to the Drop Dead Gorgeous Garden of Your Dreams (so much better than my version which would be called “The Drop Dead Garden: How to kill Your Plants in Two Months or Less”). It is published by Crown Publishers and it’s ISBN is 0-517-70554-0. Hope these tips come in handy as we all venture out into the battlefield that I call the lawn. Be careful out there!

For more great tips of every kind go to Rocksinmydryer who hosts Works for Me Wednesday.

http://frugalhomekeeping.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2009-02-27T12%3A38%3A00-08%3A00&max-results=7

Creamed Chipped Beef

1/4 lb. (1 jar) dried beef, shredded
4 TBSP butter or margarine
4 TBSP flour
2 C milk
4 to 6 slices of toast

Cook the dried beef with the butter in a heavy skillet for 5 min. or until edges curl. Sprinkle flour over the beef and blend well. Remove from heat; slowly stir in the milk. Return to low heat and cook, stirring until sauce is smooth and thick. Serve on hot toast. Makes 4 to 6 servings.

http://frugalhomekeeping.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2009-02-06T06%3A10%3A00-08%3A00&max-results=7

2009
Like The Scent Of Gain Detergent, But Not The Price?

My favorite clean scent is that of original scent Gain detergent. However, with four big guys and a dog in the house I have oodads of laundry, we’re talking “washday” almost everyday! I buy Gain for the scent, and unscented , cheaper, off-brand detergent for the cleaning part of the equation.

Then, to one load of laundry, I add the amount required by the unscented detergent directions minus a couple of TBSPsful.

Then add your Gain to make up the difference in the measuring cup.

Your towels and clothes will smell like Gain, but one bottle of Gain will go much further when mixed with that less-expensive unscented detergent.

2009
Cheap Way to Shave Your Legs and Moisturize
This morning in the shower I thought of a frugal tip that I wanted to share. If you run out of your fancy shave gel that you usually use, a great substitute is a dab of hair conditioner. It works great. I’ve done this for a long time. It works nicely in the winter because it’s thick and moisturizes your legs. I suffer from dry skin in the winter, so this is an added bonus. Another practice I use to fight dry skin, is to slather on my facial moisturizer while my face is still wet, then pat dry with the towel. Anyway, the conditioner idea has saved me many times when I press the shave gel button and nothing comes out.

20 Corn Salad In Pepper Shells

4 green peppers
1/3 C salad oil
1/2 tsp McCormick ground mustard
1/2 tsp McCormick ground black pepper
1/8 tsp McCormick ground red pepper
1 TBSP McCormick instant minced onion
2 TBSP vinegar
3 C whole kernal corn
1 6 oz. jar pimiento, cut into 1-inch squares
1 C thinly sliced celery
1 8 oz. can water chestnuts, thinly sliced

Cut tops from green peppers and remove seeds. Cut top edge in petal shape, if desired. Parboil peppers in boiling water 5 minutes. Mix together oil, ground mustard, black and red peppers, minced onion, and vinegar. Combine corn, pimiento, celery and water chestnuts. Add dressing to corn mixture, tossing to mix well. Fill peppers with corn mixture. Chill covered.

Since Sunday is the Super Bowl, and one of the teams involved was my Mammam’s favorite, here’s a bonus recipe for the big game:

Buffalo Chicken Dip

2 8 oz. packages of cream cheese
12 oz. bottle of your favorite blue cheese salad dressing
hot sauce to taste
Mix ingredients and spread in 13x9 greased baking dish. Shred chicken on top(you can use leftover chicken or canned)
Bake at 350 dgrees for 25 minutes.
Serve with crackers or tortilla chips.

2009
Results of baking

As promised, I tried the blueberry muffin recipe from Friday’s “Old Cookbook”. We had a snow day here on Tuesday, which is a rarity in Oklahoma, so with everyone home, I fired up the oven and got out the cookbook. I found the recipe on page 113 called Guest Supper Muffins. Below the recipe are many variations such as cranberry, date, bacon, and Pennsylvania Dutch muffins. I, of coarse, used the blueberry one. Here is the recipe, and then I’ll tell you how it went and whether anyone liked them.

2 C sifted all-purpose flour
2 TBSP sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 C shortening(I used a Crisco baking stick)
1 egg, well-beaten
3/4 C milk

-Sift together flour, baking powder, sugar and salt into mixing bowl. Cut in shortening until crumbs are the size of small peas(I used a pastry cutter for this, but you can use 2 forks if you don’t have one)
Make a hollow in the center of the mixture.
-Combine egg and milk; add all at once to hollow in dry ingredients. Stir only until dry ingredients are just moist(batter will be lumpy).
-Fill greased muffin pan cups 2/3 full.
-Bake in hot oven(400 degrees)25 minutes, or until done. Makes about 12 muffins.

For blueberry muffins: Quickly fold 1 C blueberries into batter and bake as directed.

We are used to the modern day cake-type muffins. These had a sturdier consistency; more like a biscuit. They were good, but could use more than the 2 TBSP of sugar that the recipe called for. Because we thought they needed to be sweeter, we put jam on them...problem solved! Next time I make them I will add more sugar. They remind me of the cinnamon biscuits that you could get at Arby’s a long time ago. They no longer have them, so I’m thinking that I will try to recreate them by adding cinnamon(and added sugar)to the basic muffin recipe. The recipe was precise when it said that it makes 12 muffins. That’s exactly how many I got out of it. And they’re all gone but two! I think the very best topping for these muffins would be homemade apple butter. Of coarse, you just can’t go wrong putting homemade apple butter on almost any baked bread or muffin. West Virginia is the best place to find apple butter made outside in a big kettle over an open fire. Check it out!

Old Fashioned Oatmeal Bread

2 C milk
2 C quick rolled oats, uncooked
1/4 C brown sugar, firmly packed
1 TBSP salt
2 TBSP shortening
1 Pkg. active dry yeast
1/2 C warm water(110 to 115 degrees)
5 C all-purpose flour(approx.)
1 egg white
1 TBSP water
rolled oats
-Scald milk; stir in 2 C rolled oats, brown sugar, salt and shortening. Remove from heat and cool to lukewarm.
-Add milk mixture and 2 C flour to yeast. Beat with electric mixer on medium speed, scraping the bowl occasionally, 2 minutes. Or beat with spoon until batter is smooth.
-Add enough remaining flour, a little at a time, first with spoon and then with hands, to make a soft dough that leaves the sides of the bowl. Turn onto floured board; knead until dough is smooth and elastic, 8 to 10 minutes. Place in lightly greased bowl; turn dough over to grease top. Cover and let rise in warm place until doubled, 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Punch down and let rise again until nearly doubled, about 30 minutes.
-Turn onto board and divide in half. Round up to make 2 balls. Cover and let rise 10 minutes. Shape into loaves and place in greased 9x5x3” loaf pans. Let rise until almost doubled, about 1 hr. and 15 min. Brush tops of loaves with egg white beaten with water and sprinkle with rolled oats.
-Bake in moderate oven(375 degrees)about 40 minutes(if bread starts to brown too much, cover loosley with a sheet of aluminum foil after baking 15 min.)
Makes 2 loaves.

P.S.
I know that if you’re like me(not a bread baker by nature)this sounds long and complicated, but it might be a fun project for a slow Sunday afternoon. Then, on Monday morning, when everyone’s flying by in a flurry of car keys, coats and school books, they can grab a healthy slice of oatmeal bread and a banana. Here’s to you!

http://frugalhomekeeping.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2009-01-23T09%3A21%3A00-08%3A00&max-results=7

2009
Use Up Those Leftover Candy Canes

If you have a few candy canes; peppermint or any other flavor that are collecting dust after the holidays here’s a light, crunchy candy you can make(it uses up leftover almond bark, too)

Peppermint Crunch

Melt leftover almond bark or white chocolate chips in a glass bowl in the microwave. Keep stirring until smooth. Add crushed candy canes(my food processor here is a ziplock bag and a wooden rolling pin!).

Then, add several cups of Rice Krispie-type cereal until coated and chocolate is used up in the bowl. This is not exact and has no measurements-we’re using up Christmas baking leftovers!

Finally, drop by tablespoonsful onto waxed paper. Store in tin can lined with waxed paper. Keeps for a good while. If you have candy canes that are in the many flavors that are available, they would be ok, too)